Well, if it isn't Kie,'' he said. I lifted her onto a chair so he could see her better. I visited him once after his illness had gotten much worse. They were saying no visitors at that point, but Ozu gave permission. ''I never did anything wrong,'' he said. ''So why do I have to suffer like this when I'm still so young.'' And I saw a tear spill down his cheek. That turned out to be the last time I saw him. And I'll never forget just how he looked. On December 12, 1963, at 1 2:40 p.m., Yasujiro Ozu died, on his 60th birthday. Ozu had a kind ofloneliness about him. This loneliness showed in his films. HIDEMI KON -AUTHOR No matter how cheerful he acted - and I don't mean he was putting it on, because he had a truly bright side, too. He enjoyed himself. He liked to do fun things. But at the same time, there was always this loneliness. That's why I believed in him. Artists without an air of loneliness are boring. Many artists have this quality, not only in Japan but in the West, too. I saw this quality clearly in Ozu and in all his works. Perhaps he tried not to show it too much and that's what his cheerfulness was about, but there was always something in his bearing that said, ''I'm an artist.'' I suppose you could say he was a man among men. I've met a lot of people in my time, many of whom were truly accomplished. But Ozu struck me as - how should I put it? - as incredibly grown up, I suppose. I felt like he understood me implicitly, without me ever having to say a thing. When my theatrical group broke up and my friends scattered every which way, and I felt like everyone was turning against me, he and Ton Satomi sent me a wire. ''I'm with you. Satomi. Me, too. Ozu. '' It made me so happy. But then in the very year of the breakup, when we were feeling so completely at sea about what to do next, Ozu died. I have had to part with many people who were very dear to me, but no parting was as hard or as painful for me as this one. I so dearly, dearly wished that he were still alive. He had always been such a strong pillar of support for me. Ozu once said, ''The end of a film is its beginning. '' He died on his birthday, almost as if to say in real life, too, the end is the beginning. Yasujiro Ozu lived a full life and then returned to the nothingness of mu. THE END ------------------------------ Читайте также: - текст Всё будет хорошо на английском - текст Серые волки на английском - текст Гранд Отель на английском - текст В порту на английском - текст Критическая ситуация на английском |